Maybe I will get a few moments at some point to post the others. Who knows?!?!
As with any sermon, what is typed out isn't exactly what is shared. And now that we are recording our sermons, you can listen via the link to what is said. I added a quote from an essay in Feasting in the Word toward the end and I edited the ending a little too.
Though I could have edited the manuscript to reflect what I said, I have other things I need to do so I thought my time would be better in letting you listen to the sermon, read what is there, and allow the Holy Spirit to sort out whatever needed to be sorted out. Besides, it is the Holy Spirit who is the great teacher anyway. I'm just a vessel.
Peace and blessings,
Debra
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“Taste and
See”
Psalm 34:1-8 (CEB)
October 28, 2018 (23rd Sunday after
Pentecost)
Fort Oglethorpe UMC
Psalm
34:1-8 (CEB)
1I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be in my mouth.
2 I praise the Lord—
let the suffering listen and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me!
Together let us lift his name up high!
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me.
He delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to God will shine;
their faces are never ashamed.
6 This suffering person cried out:
the Lord listened and saved him from every trouble.
7 On every side, the Lord’s messenger protects those who honor God; and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see how good the Lord is!
The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!
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THIS
IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
THANKS BE TO GOD.
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I
mentioned “Why the Psalms Today?” by Elise Eslinger two weeks ago to help us understand
why we might dive deeper into the Psalms. We included it on the back of the
responsive reading for you to look at later.
As
I shared last time that I preached on a Psalm, I chose to preach from the
Psalms this month for several reasons.
They are beautiful and powerful Scriptures that we don’t often spend enough
time studying, in my opinion. Though we
may read the responsive reading or have a portion of a psalm or two memorized,
we don’t tend to spend lots of time in the Psalms. Another reason I decided to let the Psalms be
the focus is that by looking at something we don’t dive into as often, we might
become more open to hearing the Holy Spirit.
May it be so today.
Psalm
34 is categorized by Walter Brueggemann as a psalm of new orientation. The other psalms I have shared this month
have been psalms of disorientation. The
psalms of disorientation are the ones that are most often ignored or left out
in preaching or studying and that is one reason I decided to preach the
lectionary Psalter passages. The psalms
of new orientation are likely more familiar.
You have heard them in songs, single verses, etc. In these psalms of new orientation, there is
thanksgiving. There is an element of
surprise of grace, new life. The psalms
of new orientation show a response from a place of disorientation and lament to
new orientation and praise and thanksgiving. (Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms, Chapter 4)
Psalm
34 is also considered a “wisdom” psalm because of the wisdom and instruction it
contains.
What
is the rescue referred to here? It is David’s
rescue from Abimelech, as noted in most Bibles between the Psalm title and the
psalm itself. Different versions might
title it differently. For example, the
CEB notes:
Of David, when he pretended to be crazy
before Abimelech, who banished him so that he left.
Of David. When he
pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
(NIV)
Of David, when he feigned madness before
Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. (NRSV)
A David Psalm, When He Outwitted Abimelech and Got Away (MSG)
David
outwitted Abimelech by pretending to be crazy, insane, by feigning madness and
because of his escape, he gave praise back to God. The background story can be found in 1 Samuel
21:10-15, if you would like to refer to it later.
Brueggemann
notes that “this prayer is for those who find themselves resourceless against
the powers of this age, and then are remarkably released for new life.” (The Message of the Psalms, 133)
Do
you ever feel resourceless against the powers of this age? [Pause]
In
Keeping Holy Time, edited by Douglas
E. Wingeier, I read the following about Psalm 34: “…the psalmist lives in
brokenness, affliction, fear, and destitution.
But he did not wait for the good times to offer God praise. Life is the
way it is, says Psalm 34.” (341)
Think
about this. David experienced
brokenness, affliction, fear, and destitution.
He experienced fear for his life in this particular situation that we
find in 1 Samuel and God gave him a way out.
He offered God praise.
Do
you experience brokenness, affliction, fear, or destitution? [Pause] In these or whatever situations you
find yourself, are you able to offer God praise? [Pause]
Life
isn’t easy nor is it fair. There is much
going on in our world. And because we
grew up being told to not talk politics or religion, many of us don’t. Now, there is good in not talking about those
things. Sometimes. Yet, the harm is that
we haven’t learned how to have holy conversations, how to listen well to people
who differ from us, nor have we learned how to have conversations in which we
can agree to disagree.
In
the midst of politics, in the midst of preparing for General Conference 2019,
in the midst of so much pain and suffering… if we, as followers of Christ,
cannot be leaders in guiding courageous conversations, then who?
Holy
conversations, courageous conversations allow us to talk about difficult topics
and truly listen to what others have to say.
We listen without demeaning the other, without demonizing the other,
without interrupting the other. It isn’t
easy to learn to listen to others when we don’t understand or when we have
fears of our own.
As
Wesleyans, we recognize that we are shaped by Scripture, Reason, Experience,
and Tradition. The acronym “R.E.S.T.” is
one way to remember those four.
Our
perspective on life and situations is filtered through each of those.
Holy
and courageous conversations with one another on difficult topics will help us
understand one another, hold a space of grace for one another and allow us to
practice loving God and one another.
I
learned this past Friday that we lost another kid in community. This time it wasn’t a high school kid or a
graduate. It was a 12 year old. I don’t have
the details, but we were asked to open our doors here at FOUMC to allow the
family to meet after the service. We
were able to make that happen, after Mary spent most of the morning making
calls because several of us were going to be out of town on Saturday when they
needed it. Then the community
representative called back and they had procured another location. I am so glad we had been able to work it out,
even if we didn’t need it.
But
it touched the edges of borders for me—I just did a service two weeks ago for a
young man. I thought of him and his
family. I thought of my friend Pagiel
and his family. Pagiel attempted last
year, at age 14, but did not succeed.
Though he lost his eyesight, he will tell you he is able to see so much
more clearly these days than before. He
has a remarkable story to tell.
We
need to listen. When we don’t listen,
people shut down. They feel they can’t
share their thoughts. Especially as
followers of Christ, we need to create safe spaces of grace for people to share.
I
know this personally. As a high school
student, I thought about suicide. I
wrote a poem about it and shared it with someone close. That person told me it was stupid to have
those thoughts. I didn’t know why I was
struggling until much later at the age of 21 and things I had repressed came
out. The point is that I needed a safe
space of grace to share, even if it made
someone else uncomfortable.
I
have dedicated myself to listening.
The
Psalmist David went through all kinds of things in his life that he likely
would rather not have shared with people.
But in darkness, shame can grow and we can feel isolated. In the light and love of Christ, healing and
wholeness take place.
As
I continued reading in Keeping Holy Time,
I read these words: “God’s faithfulness, no matter what the circumstances,
remains constant. God rescues. God delivers.
God redeems. God saves.” (342)
No
matter what our situation is—our personal situation, our national situation,
our worldly situation— one constant is Creator God. As the Psalmist reminds us in the Psalms of
disorientation, we don’t always recognize or feel the presence of God. There are dark times. Yet, today’s Psalm reminds us that even in
the dark times, we can seek out the goodness.
Over
the past week I have seen a couple of memes of new life—trees coming out of
dead stumps and tiny flowers growing out of broken cracks. This has reminded me of God’s goodness. Even when I think there is no longer any
hope, that the stump is dead or nothing can grow, there is always a chance for
new life when a space of grace is open.
It
only takes a crack of openness for grace to break through with the light and
love of Christ.
Where
have you seen new life crack through? [Pause]
In
Keeping Holy Time, the last sentence
states, “Trusting God’s goodness, we can “taste and see that the Lord is good”
and count ourselves “happy [as] are those who take refuge in [God]” (Ps. 34:8)”
(342)
May
we become so spiritually hungry that we seek to “taste and see”.
Amen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click HERE to listen to the sermon.
Bulletin cover.
"Why the Psalms Today?" (referenced in the sermon)
Psalm Prayer by Jerry Webber (used as a responsive reading in the service)
